03/20/2026
Josh & Joe Duggar are prime examples of what happens when you combine:
Extreme purity culture teaching young people that natural urges should be shameful (touching themselves is a sin against god)
+ no accountability for men in many strict Evangelical-esque cultures when they do these kinds of things to children. (They’re “stumbling” in their walk.)
+ (unfortunately probably) childhood SA from someone they should have been able to trust, in their own families or social circles.
They’re taught that they are partially responsible for what happened to them when they were abused, and that reporting someone’s “sin” will ruin the sinner’s lives (instead of, you know, the life of the kid the sinner touched).
These kids are taught that they should forgive their abusers.
So why wouldn’t they think that they, too, should also be forgiven for their own abusive urges?
It’s a sad, horrible, and entirely preventable situation all around.
Two things can be true at once:
You can have understanding and empathy for things that happen to people that cause them to act in certain ways later on in life, while also understanding that (regardless of how they got there), they are not fit to remain in the presence of those they have victimized, and should be kept away from all other potential offense victims, and opportunities.
